was an

airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines for ...

based in

Tokoname is a city in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 57,872 in 24,872 households, and a population density of 1,035 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Tokoname is located on the western coast ...

Aichi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,552,873 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the west, Gifu Prefectur ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. It operated passenger services as

All Nippon Airways , also known as ANA (''Ē-enu-ē'') or is an airline in Japan. Its headquarters are located in Shiodome City Center in the Shiodome area of Minato ward of Tokyo. It operates services to both domestic and international destinations and had mo ...

(ANA) flights from its main base is

Chūbu Centrair International Airport is an international airport on an artificial island in Ise Bay, Tokoname City in Aichi Prefecture, south of Nagoya in central Japan. Centrair is classified as a first class airport and is the main international gateway for the Chubu ("ce ...

near

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...

. On October 1, 2010, Air Central, Air Next and Air Nippon Network were merged and rebranded as

ANA Wings ANA Wings Co.,Ltd. (ANAウイングス株式会社 ''ANA Uingusu Kabushiki Kaisha'') is a regional airline with its corporate headquarters at Itami Airport near Osaka, Japan and a wholly owned subsidiary of All Nippon Airways (ANA). The airli ...

History

In 1953, Nakanihon Air Service (NAS) was founded near Nagoya Airport (now

Nagoya Airfield , also known as Komaki Airport or Nagoya Airport, is an airport which lies within the local government areas of Toyoyama, Komaki, Kasugai and Nagoya in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. It was once an international airport, but is now a domestic sec ...

). Its major shareholders included

Nagoya Railroad , referred to as , is a private railway company operating around Aichi Prefecture and Gifu Prefecture of Japan. Some of the more famous trains operated by Meitetsu include the ''Panorama Car'' and the '' Panorama Car Super'', both of which off ...

and ANA. Its core business was

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

, including scenic and charter flights,

aerial photography Aerial photography (or airborne imagery) is the taking of photographs from an aircraft or other airborne platforms. When taking motion pictures, it is also known as aerial videography. Platforms for aerial photography include fixed-wing aircra ...

and

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

services. It still operates as a general aviation company. Nakanihon Airlines, was founded on May 12, 1988. It was headquartered in Nagoya Airport and was a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...

between Nagoya Railroad and ANA. Commuter services began operations on 23 April 1991. On February 17, 2005, NAL was renamed to the current name and was relocated to

Chubu Centrair International Airport is an international airport on an artificial island in Ise Bay, Tokoname City in Aichi Prefecture, south of Nagoya in central Japan. Centrair is classified as a first class airport and is the main international gateway for the Chubu (" ...

. The flight schedules were amended for convenience of domestic and international flight changeover there. These moves were made for ANA's wish to feed international flights from Centrair operated by ANA and its

Star Alliance Star Alliance is the world's largest global airline alliance. Founded on 14 May 1997, its CEO is Jeffrey Goh and its headquarters is located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. , Star Alliance is the largest of the three global alliances by passenger ...

partners.

Destinations

As of April 2007, Air Central served the following destinations on the Japanese islands of

Honshū , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island separa ...

Shikoku is the smallest of the four main islands of Japan. It is long and between wide. It has a population of 3.8 million (, 3.1%). It is south of Honshu and northeast of Kyushu. Shikoku's ancient names include ''Iyo-no-futana-shima'' (), '' ...

and

Kyūshū is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surround ...

. Between Nagoya-Centrair and: *

Fukuoka Airport , formerly known as Itazuke Air Base, is an international and domestic airport located east of Hakata Station in Hakata-ku, Fukuoka, Japan. Fukuoka Airport is the principal airport on the island of Kyushu and is the fourth busiest passenger ...

(FUK),

Fukuoka, Fukuoka is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancie ...

Fukushima Airport is an airport serving northern and central Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, located in the city of Sukagawa, Fukushima, Sukagawa. The airport is located southeast of Kōriyama Station (Fukushima), Kōriyama Station in Kōriyama, Fukushima, Kōriya ...

(FKS),

Tamakawa, Fukushima 270px, Tamakawa, Roadside Station is a village located in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. , the village had an estimated population of 6,497 in 2143 households, and a population density of 140 per km². The total area of the village was . Geography ...

near Koriyama *

Matsuyama Airport is an airport located west southwestAIS Japan
of Matsuyama, Ehime 270px, Matsuyama City Hall 270px, Ehime Prefectural Capital Building is the capital city of Ehime Prefecture on the island of Shikoku in Japan and also Shikoku's largest city. , the city had an estimated population of 505,948 in 243541 househo ...

Narita International Airport Narita International Airport ( ja, 成田国際空港, Narita Kokusai Kūkō) , also known as Tokyo-Narita, formerly and originally known as , is one of two international airports serving the Greater Tokyo Area, the other one being Haneda Airport ...

(NRT),

Chiba Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama Prefecture to the ...

, 70 kilometres from

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Niigata Airport is a second class airport located northeast of Niigata Station in Niigata, Japan. History The first airport on the Sea of Japan coast of Japan was opened on an island in the Shinano River in 1929. This airport was moved to what was then the ...

(KIJ),

Niigata, Niigata is a city located in the northern part of Niigata Prefecture (). It is the capital and the most populous Cities of Japan, city of Niigata Prefecture, and one of the cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, located in the Chūbu regio ...

Tokushima Airport is a joint civil-military public airport in Matsushige, Tokushima, Japan, near the city of Tokushima. In addition to scheduled passenger operations, the airport is the base of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Tokushima Air Training Group ...

(TKS),

Matsushige, Tokushima 270px, Tsukimigaoka-Kaihin-Koen is a town located in Itano District, Tokushima Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 14,770 in 6794 households and a population density of 1000 persons per km². The total area of the town i ...

near

Tokushima city is the capital city of Tokushima Prefecture on Shikoku island in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 249,865 in 122085 households and a population density of 1305 persons per km².The total area of the city is . Geography The ci ...

Yonago Airport Miho Airbase (美保飛行場) , also known as Yonago Airport is a Japan Air Defense Force (JASDF) base located 11 km northwest of Yonago in Tottori Prefecture. It is owned and operated by JASDF and shares the runway with civil activities. ...

(Miho Airbase YGJ),

Sakaiminato, Tottori is a city in Tottori Prefecture, Japan. In 2016, it had an estimated population of 33,888. History An Imperial decree in July 1899 established Sakai as an open port for trading with the United States and the United Kingdom. Sakaiminato was foun ...

near

Yonago is a Cities of Japan, city in western Tottori Prefecture, Japan, facing the Sea of Japan and making up part of the boundary of Nakaumi, Lake Nakaumi. It is adjacent to Shimane Prefecture and across the lake from its capital of Matsue. It is the p ...

Between

Osaka International Airport , often referred to as is the primary regional airport for the Kansai region of Japan, including the major cities of Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe. Classified as a first class airport, it is the airport closest to Kyoto, southwest of Kyoto Station. ...

(ITM) Itami, Ōsaka and: * Kochi Airport (KCZ),

Nankoku, Kōchi is a Cities of Japan, city located in Kōchi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 46‚459 in 22499 households and a population density of 370 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Nankoku is loca ...

*Matsuyama Airport *Niigata Airport Between Fukuoka Airport and: *Goto-Fukue Airport (FUJ),

Gotō, Nagasaki is a city in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. It comprises the south-west half of the Gotō Islands plus (uninhabited) Danjo and Hizen Torishima archipelagos in the East China Sea. Although the core islands of the city lay some 100 kilometers fro ...

*Tsushima Airport (TSJ),

Tsushima, Nagasaki is an island city grouped in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. It is the only city of Tsushima Subprefecture and it encompasses all of Tsushima Island Archipelago, which lies in the Tsushima Strait north of Nagasaki on the western side of Kyushu, the s ...

It also operated the

Sendai Airport is an international airport located in the city of Natori, Miyagi, south southeast of Sendai metropolis, Sendai, Japan. The airport is alternatively referred to as . History In 1940, the Imperial Japanese Army built Sendai Airport in order ...

(SDJ), near

Sendai, Miyagi is the capital city of Miyagi Prefecture, the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,091,407 in 525,828 households, and is one of Japan's 20 designated cities. The city was founded in 1600 by the ''daimyō'' Date ...

(NRT) route.

Fleet

The Air Central fleet included (as of March 2007): *3

Fokker 50 The Fokker 50 is a turboprop-powered airliner, designed as an improved version of the successful Fokker F27 Friendship. The Fokker 60 is a stretched freighter version of the Fokker 50. Both aircraft were manufactured and supported by Dutch airc ...

(All have been repainted in the livery of ANA prior to retirement) *2

Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 The De Havilland Canada DHC-8, commonly known as the Dash 8, is a series of turboprop-powered regional airliners, introduced by de Havilland Canada (DHC) in 1984. DHC was later bought by Boeing in 1988, then by Bombardier in 1992; then by ...

(progressively leased and carrying the livery of ANA which is later transferred to

)

References

External links

Air Central
{{Airlines of Japan Defunct airlines of Japan All Nippon Airways Airlines established in 1988 Airlines disestablished in 2010 Companies based in Aichi Prefecture Japanese companies established in 1988 Japanese companies disestablished in 2010